‘Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town’
A lanky mailman with the voice of Fred Astaire explains Santa’s origins in this animated 1970 special. In this version, the future jolly old elf is a foundling adopted by the Kringles, a family of toymakers. He grows up with toys in his blood, so to speak, and feels called to give them away to the local youngsters.
8 PM * Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town A lanky mailman with the voice of Fred Astaire explains Santa’s origins in this animated 1970 special, which sidesteps the St. Nicholas part. In this version, the future jolly old elf is a foundling adopted by the Kringles, a family of toymakers. He grows up with toys in his blood, so to speak, and feels called to give them away to the local youngsters
— but mean old Burgermeister Meisterburger will have none of that.
8 PM ( LIFE) MOVIE Christmas at the Castle New York perfume expert Blaire Henderson flies to Scotland in search of a rare fragrance called The Heart of the Highlands. Upon arrival, though, she is dismayed to discover the license holder to that perfume is held by Alistair McGregor, a dashing but stubborn aristocrat who isn’t interested in selling. Thinking fast, Blaire pretends to be a documentary filmmaker, hoping she can learn the secret ingredients for the fragrance on the sly. Brooke Burfitt, Dan Jeannotte, Geraldine Somerville and Nicholas Farrell star in this holiday drama.
8 PM ( TCM) MOVIE Meet Me in St. Louis In director Vincente Minnelli’s nostalgic 1944 musical masterpiece, a St. Louis family is disappointed to learn it must move to New York just before the 1904 World’s Fair opens, but the plot is mere window dressing compared to Judy Garland performing some of her most timeless hits, including “The Boy Next Door,” “The Trolley Song” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Margaret O’Brien, Mary Astor and Leon Ames co-star. 9 PM ( FOOD) Guy’s Grocery Games For the new episode “Delivery: One Box Only,” host Guy Fieri and son Hunter invite chefs Darnell Ferguson, Amber Lancaster and Crista Luedtke — all of them past Flavortown Market winners — to participate in this at-home competition. A surprise awaits the trio, though, when each of them receives just one box of groceries instead of two. Since the competition calls for them to make both a hot lunch and a Sunday supper, the chefs must use the same ingredients in different ways and combinations to create both meals.
9 PM ( TLC) Buddy Valastro: Road to Recovery This new two-hour documentary charts the recovery process of fan-favorite “Cake Boss” Buddy Valastro, in the aftermath of a September bowling accident that left his right hand horribly mangled. To date, Vasastro has had three surgeries on his hand, which was impaled on a metal barb as he was fixing the pinsetter in his home bowling alley. The injury left him with numbness and limited motion in two fingers of the affected hand, which is the dominant hand Valastro uses in his work.
10:45 PM ( HBO) MOVIE I Used to Go Here Gillian Jacobs (“Community”) earned warm reviews for her performance in writer-director Kris Rey’s 2020 comedy, in which she plays a struggling writer who is invited to speak at her alma mater, just days after her debut novel bombs. It’s been 15 years since her graduation, yet she soon finds herself drawn into the lives and problems of some of the students at the school. Jemaine Clement, Hannah Marks, Forrest Goodluck, Josh Wiggins, Kate Micucci and Jorma Taccone also star.